President-elect Trump is rounding out his administration with cabinet nominations, but their confirmation ultimately relies on support from linchpins in the Senate who could be skeptical of his appointees.
While the incoming president has the power to appoint members to his Cabinet, it is ultimately up to Congress to have the final say in whether they are confirmed to the positions through a confirmation process.
While the GOP will hold the majority in the next Congress, however, Senate confirmation could hang on a few key Republicans who have expressed mixed feelings about Trump’s cabinet selections.
Sen. Mitch McConnell
Longtime Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has had a rocky relationship with Trump over the years, most recently releasing a new book that revealed his not-so-flattering thoughts about the president-elect.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks to reporters after a Republican strategy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 8, 2022. (J. Scott Applewhite)
According to the book, the Senate minority leader has reportedly slammed Trump as “stupid,” “erratic,” a “despicable human being” and a “narcissist.”
“I can’t think of anybody I’d rather be criticized by than this sleazeball,” he said in 2022, as Trump continued to attack his wife, former Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, calling her “Coco Chow.”
After the book’s release, McConnell told Fox News Digital that “we are all on the same team now.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said that she is not certain former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Trump’s controversial attorney general nominee, will make it through the confirmation process.
“I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general,” the Alaska Republican said. “We need to have a serious attorney general. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. This one was not on my bingo card.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee nomination hearing. (Al Drago)
Murkowski also expressed surprise to hear of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s nomination to secretary of defense.
“Wow,” Murkowski said. “I’m just surprised, because the names that I’ve heard for secretary of defense have not included him.”
Sen. Susan Collins
Susan Collins, the Republican senator from Maine, said she was “shocked that he [Gaetz] has been nominated.”
“He’s under investigation by the House Committee on Ethics. Obviously, the president has the right to nominate whomever he wishes, but this is why the background checks that are done by the FBI and the advice and consent process in the Senate, and public hearings are also important,” she said.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she was “shocked that he [Gaetz] has been nominated.” (Mark Makela)
Gaetz was under a yearslong ethics investigation in the House looking into reports of alleged sexual involvement with a minor, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts.
Sen. Thom Tillis
After Gaetz was nominated, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that despite a history of sparring with the attorney general nominee on social media, he would go through the confirmation process the same as any other pick.
However, Tillis said that the president should select nominees who can pass the chamber’s vetting process.
“The president deserves to put forth a nominee. The president has an obligation to make sure that that nominee is gonna pass vetting and have the votes on the floor,” the North Carolina Republican told reporters after Gaetz was nominated.
Tillis, however, suggested that the public should not be shocked if the former Florida congressman is not confirmed.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., departs from a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2023. (Anna Moneymaker)
“I will consider Matt Gaetz like I will anyone else, but if they don’t do the homework, don’t be surprised if they fail. Maybe they’ve already done that work,” he added. “Nothing surprises me in politics, nothing. And I’m okay with this. But at the end of the day we have a process, and we’ll just have to run through it.”
Tillis added that he cares about “a defensible résumé, and a really clean vetting. Produce that he’s got a chance, don’t, and he doesn’t.”
Sen. Todd Young
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who did not publicly support Trump for the Republican presidential nomination this year, could be another deciding vote on cabinet confirmations.
The GOP senator previously told reporters he would not be supporting Trump’s 2024 presidential run partly because the former president’s “judgment is wrong” on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said he would not support Trump’s 2024 presidential bid. (Alex Wong)
Asked about Gaetz’s nomination, he did not respond and instead began praising Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as Trump’s Secretary of State pick.
Sen.-elect John Curtis
Utah Republican John Curtis, recently elected to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Mitt Romney, said that he believes the Senate should have the final say in whether a Trump nominee is confirmed or not.
“Senator-elect Curtis believes that every president is afforded a degree of deference to select his team and make nominations,” Corey Norman, Curtis’ chief of staff, told KSL TV in a statement. “He also firmly believes in and is committed to the Senate’s critical role to confirm or reject nominations.”
Senator-elect John Curtis, R-Utah, arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Kevin Dietsch)
Other senators have voiced uncertainty about Gaetz’s chances of being confirmed.
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Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said that Gaetz has got an “uphill climb” ahead of him, while Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said, according to The New York Times, that “I think all but Gaetz are very doable — maybe not lovable, but doable.”